Posts Tagged: "Stephen Breyer"

PTAB Masters™ 2022, Day Three: Iancu Slams Repeat Proceedings, Panelists Opine on Breyer Retirement

The third day of IPWatchdog’s PTAB Masters™ 2022 featured more from former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Andrei Iancu, as well as panels covering topics such as avoiding obviousness mistakes, appellate strategies from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and other intricacies of PTAB practice from the experts. Panelists this afternoon also weighed in on today’s announcement that Justice Stephen Breyer will retire from the Supreme Court, opening the door for Biden to appoint a replacement.

Authors living off welfare and writing for free is not a coherent copyright plan

Authors who are making a wage that is at or below the poverty line create a burdensome charge for readers? Well when you put it that way what Justice Breyer wrote just sounds stupid… There is a cost associated with discovering whether there are previous copyrights and securing permission to copy? Is Justice Breyer really suggesting that the grant of rights to copyright holders is too onerous for copycats and plagiarists to bear? What about this radical idea Justice Breyer – don’t copy what you didn’t create! If you cannot acquire the rights then just don’t copy, period… There is a reason judges, and in particular Justices of the Supreme Court, are not supposed to say more than is necessary to decide a case. Without consideration of a multitude of important issues seemingly innocuous statements can easily be absurd in the broader context, not to mention set bad precedent.

Is the Supreme Court breathtakingly dishonest or just completely clueless?

In Star Athletica Breyer laments that the majority is ignoring the statute, refers to copyrights as a monopoly, and explains that copyrights are a tax on consumers… These seemingly innocent comments demonstrate a breathtaking dishonesty, which is hardly a newsworthy conclusion, or even much of a revelation to anyone in the patent community. Still, over the past few days the drivel that has been sprinkled into Supreme Court opinions has been particularly nauseating. The ends justify the means for the Supreme Court. When it is convenient they defer to Congress and wax poetically about the importance of stare decisis, as they actually had the gall to do in Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment. When adhering to well-established rules and expectations of an entire industry is inconvenient, they create exceptions to statutes, ignore statutory schemes altogether, and overrule generations of well-established law.

Supreme Court says laches is no defense to patent infringement

The fact that laches cannot be used as a defense to a patent infringement action brought during the statute of limitations is most definitely a pro-patent decision. Presently patents are much weaker than they have been at any time over the last 36 years. But patent law has always swung like a pendulum, and this low point will not last forever. Thus, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in SCA Hygiene, patent owners would do well to consider forgoing patent enforcement. Instead, allow infringement to accrue and then sue for infringement in several years when the law may be quite a bit more favorable. After all, patents can last for 20 years, the statute of limitations is six-years, and without a laches defense available to infringers you will be able to seek damages going back six years from whenever you choose to sue.

Supreme Court Decides SCA Hygiene Products v. First Quality Baby Products

On Tuesday, March 21st, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Products, LLC, a case which looked at the issue of whether and to what extent the defense of laches may bar a claim for patent infringement brought within the six-year statutory limitations period, as defined by 35 U.S.C. Section 286. In a 7-1 vote, the Supreme Court decided that the equitable defense of laches cannot be invoked against claims for infringement occurring during the statutory period.